Georgia turns to Tennessee

Josh Kendall

10/05/2003

ATHENS - Two weeks ago, Georgia's upcoming game against Tennessee was bumped into television's stepchild time slot - the 7:45 p.m. ESPN2 game. However, after Saturday's events, there's no question it deserves a place along with Auburn-Arkansas on this week's Southeastern Conference marquee.

Georgia jumped from No. 11 to No. 8 in the Associated Press poll Sunday
thanks to its impressive 37-23 whipping of Alabama on Saturday
afternoon. More importantly, it moved into a first-place tie for the
Eastern Division lead with the No. 13 Volunteers, who lost 28-21 to
Auburn late Saturday night. Both teams are 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the
league.

"With Georgia having come on recently under Mark Richt, certainly the
magnitude of this game has gotten bigger," Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer
said. "It's a very important game."

The winner won't be guaranteed a trip to the SEC Championship Game in
Atlanta - particularly if it's the Bulldogs, who still must play Florida
and Auburn - but it will have a significant advantage.

"The head-to-head is just so important," Georgia's Richt said.
"This is
a big one for both of us."

It could be the Bulldogs' last chance to defend their division title
since Tennessee is past the toughest part of its conference schedule.
After Georgia, the Vols finish up with Alabama, Mississippi State,
Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

Georgia has beaten Tennessee in three straight seasons, including a
come-from-behind victory in Knoxville, Tenn., two years ago. Richt
called the win the defining moment of his coaching career in Athens.

"It was huge for me as a head coach," he said. "It was huge
for our
staff. That was a game that really sold some of the things we were
trying to teach our players. I think our players really bought in 100
percent after that game."

Fulmer said he won't focus on his team's drought this week.

"We really haven't talked about it in the sense that it's three in a
row," he said. "They'll get plenty of people telling them about it for
sure."

The Volunteers had 359 yards of total offense against Auburn but only
four of that came on the ground. Leading rusher Cedric Houston had five
carries for 10 yards.

Considering that Fulmer promised entering the season that Tennessee was
going to get back to basics, it surprised some to see Casey Clausen
attempt 47 passes against the Tigers. Clausen finished 30-of-47 for 355
yards and two touchdowns.

"If you have a bunch of people in the box (close to the line of
scrimmage) and it's going to be difficult to block them all and you're
having some success throwing the football, we're going to throw the
football," Fulmer said. "I don't think we're that far away from having
a
good running game."

While Tennessee searches for an offensive identity, Georgia needs to
focus chiefly on consistency, Richt said. He said Sunday his team is not
playing as well as it was at this time a year ago.

"We show signs of being outstanding at some moments, and, at other
times, we can't get our subs in and out of the game," he said. "We
still
have some growing pains to go through. Hopefully, we'll hit that
midseason form here because that's right where we are."